Six Flags Great Adventure Wiki
Six Flags Great Adventure is a theme park in Jackson, New Jersey, located in Central New Jersey. Owned by the Six Flags brand of theme parks, the park also contains the Six Flags Wild Safari animal park and Hurricane Harbor water park. The park is popular among New Yorkers and Philadelphians due to its location, and is popular among roller coaster enthusiasts due to its selection of roller coasters. The park contains eleven themed areas, four of which are especially built for small children. History 500px|left Warner LeRoy Era (1974 - 1977) Restaurateur Warner LeRoy planned an entertainment complex in 1972 capitalizing on the back-to-nature movement of the era. He proposed seven parks that would flow naturally in the woods and around the lakes on property then owned by the Switlik family. An amusement park, safari, show park, floral park, sports complex, a campground with a beach and stables, a shopping district and hotels would connect to one another via boat, bus , sky ride and a monorail. Hardwicke Industries built safari parks in Canada and Europe and collaborated with LeRoy in planning the parks on the Jackson Twp. property. They set out to open the seven parks in stages over a 5-year period. However, elements of four of the planned parks were combined to create one amusement park, the Enchanted Forest. The Enchanted Forest was built to look as if it appeared through the eyes of a child. Almost everything was designed to look bigger-than-life. A Big Balloon that loomed over the park's entrance was the biggest hot air balloon in the world. The Log Flume was the longest log ride in the world and it accompanied a giant Conestoga wagon, log cabin restaurant and Western Fortress in the park's Rootin' Tootin' Rip Roaring section. The Giant Wheel (now Big Wheel,) then the tallest Ferris wheel in the world and the Freedom Fountain, then the largest spraying fountain in the world were located on the opposite end of the park. One of the few smaller-than-real life attractions was an outdoor walk-through attraction called the Garden of Marvels. It used working scale trains and boats amongst models of American landmarks and 1/25-scale recreations of European castles. The miniature village was an idea taken from the proposed Over the Rainbow floral park. A tree of snakes, carousel, antique cars, koi pond, children's playground (called Kiddie Kingdom,) petting zoo (named Happy Feeling) and Gingerbread Fancy (now Granny's Country Kitchen) were also borrowed from the floral park concept for a section of The Enchanted Forest that surrounded the park's main midway, Dream Street. Dream Street was named after a "shopping extravaganza" which LeRoy had designed for the property. It lent its large open squares, huge fountain (Main Street Fountain,) street performers (clowns and stilt walkers) and shops to the amusement park. Fairy Tales was a shop that opened with the park in one of the park's oversized bazaar tents. It sold stuffed animals and toys, including Superman! Influences from LeRoy's proposal would surface in the years to come. Neptune's Kingdom was a concept for a lakeside, aquatic show park. From its design came Aqua Spectacle, the home for dolphin performances and high dive shows. Today, the stadium features dolphins but is now known as Fort Independence. Neptune's Kingdom was designed to run the length from Runaway Train to Northern Star Arena, but most of its influences appear in the park's Lakefront area. The Enchanted Forest and Safari opened on July 1, 1974. Rootin' Tootin' Rip Roaring opened with Runaway Mine Train on the grand opening on Independence Day. A small compact coaster named Big Fury opened later in the season. The Sky Ride connected two ends of the park with stations in Rootin' Tootin' Rip Roaring and Dream Street. The double sky ride ran originally at the 1964-'65 New York World's Fair. The Great Train Ride was a small train ride that brought guests through a loop of the woods, rather than to a destination of another gate. A small handful of spin rides were located in the Strawberry Fair section and were as close to any thematic journey as the guests were going to take. The Fantasy Fling is older than the park and is the only survivor of these spin rides in 2008. The Fun Fair area debuted in 1975 with several new spinning rides, a smaller ferris wheel and a Schwarzkopf Jumbo Jet roller coaster. The coaster never opened and was removed at the end of the season. A second flume called the Moon Flume was built by Arrow Dynamics to ease crowds on the Log Flume. It was built on the opposite end of the park and the station turntable is used for the stage of the Wiggles show today. The Fortune Festival was a new game section that was located where the Boardwalk section exists today. A large portion of LeRoy's vision for the amusement park that never surfaced was dark rides. Although 'Man, Time and Space,' 'The Keystone Cops' and '(Alice) Down the Wishing Well' (among others) never came to be, the Haunted Castle Across the Moat, which was added a few years later, took its cue from the rooms and monsters of the 'Transylvanian Haunted Castle.' In 1976, the park's entrance was moved to a new central location. The entrance is still in use today. It was designed with an outer mall named Liberty Court and its Federal style architecture was influenced by the celebration of the United States bicentennial. An inner mall named Avenue of States was adorned by fifty state flags in the central corridor. Six flags remain on Main Street today. The Enchanted Forest name on the park was changed to the complex's name of Great Adventure. The Strawberry Fair and Fun Fair names were discontinued and the attractions in these areas became part of the newly-named Enchanted Forest section. More spin rides, "yummy yummy" food, shows, games and the Safari became a part of "the greatest day of your life." The park became a major attraction with dozens of rides, shows, and several steel roller coasters (all of which are small by today's standards and one of which still operates today). The Big Balloon, Happy Feeling, The Gondola, Pretty Monster and Super Cat were the first attractions to be removed from the park before a new owner would make big changes. Six Flags Era (1977 - 1992) From 1976 to 1979, Great Adventures featured Superheroes Characters as part of the theming including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, among others. Also, in 1977, construction began on a steel looping shuttle coaster called Lightnin' Loops (which was removed in 1992). Late that year, however, the park was purchased by Six Flags. This regional theme park company was owned then by Penn Central, which had large stakes in the Philadelphia and New York City regions. Six Flags added rides found in bigger theme parks such as the wooden coaster called Rolling Thunder in 1979, the pirate ship, a rapids ride, a flying carpet ride and drop towers, all before the park's tenth anniversary. 1980 saw very few changes while in 1981, the park added a water ride called Roaring Rapids (now called Congo River Rapids). In 1983, the park added a Freefall Ride and in 1984, the park added a roller coaster called the Sarajevo Bobsleds but closed and removed Lil' Thunder, a kiddie coaster keeping the coaster count to four. In 1984 eight teenagers were killed in a fire in the Haunted Castle. A teenager ignited his cigarette lighter in the dark rooms and it ignited the polyurethane padding on the walls. There were no emergency lighting, no fire extinguishers, no emergency exits, and no fire sprinklers. 1986 saw the addition of a second looping coaster and their fifth coaster called Ultra Twister with spiral loops. Another water ride called Splashwater Falls (which became Movietown Water Effect in 1992 and has since been removed) was added in which riders entered a large train that was pulled up hill and then down a steep waterfall in which riders get soaked. Attendance at the park had lowered since the Haunted Castle fire, so the park realized new additions were needed to keep the park alive. Attendance was so low, in fact, that in 1987 rumors began to spread that the park may close a few years down the road. At the end of that season, the park was slated to get a new multiple looping coaster but by the end of the year, it was decided that Six Flags Great America would be getting that one but Great Adventure would get something similar in 1989. In the spring of 1988, it was announced that the park was indeed getting a new coaster. As a result, the park was down to four roller coasters as Sarajevo Bobsleds was removed to make room for a new coaster, The Great American Scream Machine, which opened in April 1989. This coaster has multiple loops and for a month was the tallest roller coaster in the world and brought the park back to five roller coasters. In 1990, as part of a ride rotation program, a stand up looping roller coaster called Shockwave was added, which was previously located at Six Flags Magic Mountain. However, Ultra Twister was removed at the end of 1989 and sent to Six Flags Astroworld for the 1991 season keeping the coaster count at five. In 1991, the park added a huge complex of "dry" waterslides. While guests got wet on them, they could ride these with regular clothes or swimsuits. These slides were themed after the rivers of the world. Roaring Springs, as well as the second flume ride in the park, were incorporated into this complex. The Six Flags company was owned by Time Warner by then. Time Warner Era (1992 - 1998) In 1992, the eastern area or Fun Fair area of the park was re-themed Action Town, and then Movietown in 1993. A Batman stunt show was added and the announcement that a new inverted looping roller coaster called Batman The Ride would be added. Lightning Loops opened for the first half of the season but was disassembled at the end of July to begin construction of Batman. That coaster was sold to Premiere Parks, which at the time was a different company than Six Flags (but would eventually buy Six Flags). Premiere Parks put one of the Lightning Loops tracks in Frontier City located in Oklahoma City and it still operates today. Premiere Parks put the other Lightning Loops track in their park in Largo, Maryland (near Washington, DC), then called Adventure World. That track was renamed the Python, which would be removed in 1999. At the end of 1992 the roller coaster Shockwave was removed as part of the "Ride Rotation Program" of Six Flags. Shockwave would be sent to Six Flags Astroworld and would reopen there in 1994 as Batman The Escape. So by the end of 1992 the park was down to just three coasters. Batman, designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, opened in the spring of 1993 bringing the coaster count back up to four. In 1994, a motion simulator theatre ride was added. Initially, it was an airplane flying themed attraction but has since been changed to a Halloween theme in the fall over the years. A dinosaur theme and a three dimensional dinosaur theme was also used for this attraction. For several years, it operated as Spongebob the ride and then as Fly Me To The Moon. For the 2010 season, the attraction did not run and that building remained vacant for future use. 1995 saw the addition of Viper, a steel spiral looping roller coaster similar to Ultra Twister and in Ultra Twister's old spot, bringing the coaster count to five again. 1996 saw the addition of an indoor themed junior roller coaster called Skull Mountain. In 1997, a multiple looping dual track shuttle coaster called Batman & Robin: The Chiller was built but only opened for a day and encountered more technical difficulties. This coaster ended up not opening again until the spring of 1998. This coaster ran rather rough and was referred to as a "headbanger" as was Viper, and to a lesser extent The Scream Machine. The Mine Train and Rolling Thunder were also rough rides by then. Also, many flat rides were removed over the years and the park was showing signs of wear and tear, as well as obsolete attractions. Premier Era (1998 - 2005) This would be resolved in 1999. That year, the park added a dozen flat rides and declared a "war on lines". The Adventure River complex was retired but the flume ride and the Congo Rapids remained. A kiddie water play area also remained as part of a new kiddie ride area called Looney Tunes Seaport. A junior roller coaster called Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train as well as a kiddie roller coaster called Road Runner Railway were also added, but the star attraction was a floorless steel multiple looping roller coaster called Medusa. No changes were made at the park in 2000, but across the property on a separate parking lot, a Waterpark named Hurricane Harbor was built and opened at the end of May. This was also separately gated and charges a separate admission from Great Adventure. The park consists of a dozen waterslides, a kiddie water play area, and a wavepool. In 2001, the park added another state of the art roller coaster called Nitro. In 2002, Batman & Robin: The Chiller was renovated and new trains without over the shoulder harnesses were added making it a much smoother ride. In 2003, Superman: Ultimate Flight was added. Exact models of this are found at Six Flags Over Georgia and Six Flags Great America. In 2004, new harnesses were added to the Runaway Mine Train and the up-charge attraction erUPtion was added to the Boardwalk. In 2005, the park added the world's tallest roller coaster called Kingda Ka and also dismantled Viper. A new children's play area called Balin's Jungleland was also added. In 2006, a wooden twister coaster called El Toro was added in the spot formerly occupied by Viper, along with a new themed area, and another kiddie ride area to replace Bugs Bunny Land which was retired at the end of 2004. Shapiro Era (2005 - 2010) , El Toro, Bizarro (visible in full size picture) , Rolling Thunder, the now defunct Great American Scream Machine, Superman: Ultimate Flight, the now defunct Batman & Robin: The Chiller and Stuntman's freefall, and operating Nitro.]] In 2007, the park added Wiggles World and removed Batman & Robin: The Chiller's zero-g rolls. The rolls were replaced with banked hills to enhance ride performance. However, the ride closed forever on June 28 due to technical problems with the ride. Disassembling occurred that September. In addition, the path leading to Chiller was blocked off and several rides including Freefall, Splashwater Falls/Movietown Water Effect, and a couple other flat rides were removed. In 2008, in the area occupied by Chiller and Movietown Water Affect, a new junior indoor Wild Mouse rollercoaster was added called The Dark Knight. Motion Simulator Ride ended the Spongebob theming in favor of Fly Me To The Moon. Medusa was refurbished over the off-season and returned in 2009 as "Bizarro", a new incarnation of the same ride. The whole coaster, station, and surrounding theme elements were all changed and repainted to go with the new theme of the ride. Bizarro comic strips were put up along the queue line, and special effects and audio were added to the actual ride. The refurbishment brought crowds back to a ride that was beginning to lose its original charm and popularity. For the 2010 season, the Motion Simulator ride Fly Me To The Moon did not reopen and was not replaced with anything and remained vacant. In April 2010, rumors also began that the Great American Scream would be removed at the end of the season. By mid June, rumors were that the coaster would be removed on July 1. That date came and went but on July 5, 2010, via Facebook, Six Flags confirmed the rumored removal of the Great American Scream Machine on July 18, 2010. The ride closed on late on that date and was demolished immediately after to make room for "a major new attraction in 2011." On September 16, 2010 the park announced the Green Lantern, a standup rollercoaster formerly known as Chang from the closed Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, would debut in the Boardwalk section for the 2011 season. Green Lantern's lift hill and first drop is proposed to run parallel to the lift hill of Superman Ultimate Flight, most likely involving the demolition of a rarely-used section of the preferred parking area. Green Lantern's dive loop element will hug the first drop of Superman Ultimate Flight. Lists of Attractions Main Street Main Street serves as the entry gate for Six Flags Great Adventure. It was originally entitled Liberty Court, and was built when the entrance to the park was moved from near what is now the Boardwalk area to a more central location. Main Street is themed as an Early-American town, somewhere around the 18th century. Later additions to Main Street have formed it into more of a turn-of-the-century town. In the front is Freedom Fountain, a popular meeting place. Attractions: Fantasy Forest Fantasy Forest serves as the midway for the park, and was originally part of the entrance. Fantasy Forest is brightly colored, and while it has no specific theme to it, the colors and rides make it a magical land.The Great Character Cafe, which is designed to look like a giant ice cream sundae, is in this area along with the colorful Carousel and Enchanted Teacups. Originally, this section was split into two sections; Dream Street, the east side featuring the Carousel, and Strawberry Fair, the west side featuring the Big Wheel and Fantasy Fling. During Time Warner's acquisition of the park, these two sections of the park were combined into one. Attractions: 2007_0908_IMG_8297.jpg|Enchanted Tea Cups SFGAdv42.jpg|Fantasy Fling im001670.jpg|Houdini's Great Escape (Entrance) Wiggles World Wiggles World was added in 2007 when families requested more rides for kids and families. Most of the rides are rides re-themed from Looney Tunes Seaport, while the section itself replaced an ageing part of Looney Tunes Seaport and the outdated Poland Springs Plunge flume ride. Attractions: Looney Tunes Seaport This children's section of the park, based on Looney Tunes characters, opened in 1999 with the War on Lines. SFGAdv40.jpg|Congo Rapids p3410.jpg|Road Runner Railway Attractions: Movie Town This section makes up of what used to be the "Fun Fair" and "Action Town" sections of the park. It is themed as a Hollywood back lot, complete with Hollywood style buildings, and movie-themed ride, shops, stalls, and other attractions. Most of the attractions include D.C. Comics (Batman and Robin, Justice League) Over the years, many of the movie props have been removed, and all the flat rides in this section of the park have been moved or dismantled, leaving the section with three roller coasters. Before "The Dark Knight" was added, this theme included "Movie Town Water Effect", a splash boat water ride which would create a drenching wall of water at the steep drop which soaked riders and viewers in water, covering their entire bodies. It also included "Batman and Robin: The Chiller", which was a suspended, double tracked, shuttle coaster containing loops and corkscrews. Lakefront Lakefront, as its name suggests, is found right on the lake in the back of the property. The rides and structures in Lakefront, except for the Panda Express, are all pirate-related. SixFlagsGreatAdventureJuly15th20090.jpg|Skull Mountion 3878943642_84d5b19cb2.jpg|Buccaneer p10710.jpg|Blackbeards' Lost Treasure Train 20070747.jpg|Jolly Roger Bugs Bunny National Park Bugs Bunny National Park opened in 2006 along with El Toro. It has a series of camp-themed rides, all in a rustic area on the lake. Attractions include Bugs Bunny Camp Carousel, Bugs Bunny National Water Park Tower, Bugs Bunny Ranger Pilots, Daffy Duck's Hot Air Balloons, Porky Pig Camp Wagons and Wile E. Coyote Canyon Blaster. Frontier Adventures Also known as "Best of the West" and "Rootin' Tootin' Rip Roarin'", the park's western-themed section is very picturesque. It is home to many of the park's most famous structures including the Fort, The Conestoga Wagon, and the Best of the West restaurant, as well as some of the park's very popular rides. In 2009, Bizarro opened (formerly Medusa, opened in 1999) in this section, and though it is questionable how that relates to the Old West, Six Flags Inc. did give a backstory. RMTmain2.jpg|Runaway Mine Train 2799124055_9c6f977eaa_z.jpg|Saw Mill Log Flume with Sky Ride in background. SixFlagsGreatAdventureJuly15th20-13.jpg|"The Fort" Plaza del Carnaval This area was originally part of Frontier Adventures, and was also called "Hernando's Hideaway" for the opening of Rolling Thunder. This section of the park has heavy Spanish influences, including music, lights, and various structures including the station for El Toro. The whole area is very festive and is filled with vibrant colors and stucco buildings and Spanish tile roofs. The Golden Kingdom The Golden Kingdom opened in 2005 with Kingda Ka on what was Bugs Bunny Land, the park's old kiddie-section. This section of the park is heavily-themed, with many bamboo plants, stone temples, and more. Many think this is the best-themed area of Six Flags Great Adventure. Also in the Golden Kingdom, visitors can see both tortoises and Bengal Tigers outside of attractions. Boardwalk Previously Fortune Festival, the Boardwalk section of Great Adventure has many games commonly found on boardwalks, boardwalk restaurants, and many of the park's larger flat rides. This area of the park was also previously themed as Edwards Air Force Base, and many of the theme elements from then still exist now, including "Latrines", and the Parachute Tower's name. The section also has a slight boardwalk-influence to its rides. PICT0425.JPG|Parachure Training Center 200702_sfogeorgia011.jpg|Dare Devil Dive img_0772_109.jpg|The Twister Roller Coasters *Batman: The Ride *Nitro *Superman: Ultimate Flight *Kingda Ka *Rolling Thunder *El Toro *Bizarro (formerly Medusa) *The Dark Knight Coaster *Skull Mountain *Runaway Mine Train *Road Runner Railway *Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train *Green Lantern (2011) Former Roller Coasters *Alpen Blitz *Batman & Robin: The Chiller · *Big Fury *Great American Scream Machine *Lightnin' Loops *Lil' Thunder *Sarajevo Bobsled *Shockwave *Ultra Twister *Viper *Wild Rider New Millennium Coasters Kingda Ka On May 21, 2005, the park debuted Kingda Ka, the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster. Kingda Ka has a top speed of 128 mph (206 km/h) and rises to a height of 456 feet (139 m), which beat the previous marks of and set by Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point. The ride can carry 18 people per train and has a ride capacity of 1080 people per hour with all four trains running. In 2006, it was run with only two of the four trains throughout most of the season; as of 2007, all four trains are running once again. Despite this high turnover, the attraction still tends to have the longest waits in the park: Even on light days, when the wait times for other coasters are less than 5 minutes, Kingda Ka may have waits up to two hours. Patrons who purchase the up-charge "Flash Pass" can skip the majority of the line, and instead enter the line immediately before the boarding platform. This cuts wait time to typically less than 10 minutes. Due to its speed, it is the only coaster in the park that automatically closes when it rains. (Other coasters in the park almost always remain open unless thunder or lightning are nearby.) On very windy days, the ride may not make it over the tower; this is known as a rollback and the ride is designed with this possibility in mind. Rollbacks also commonly happen on the first launch after the ride re-opens after rain, while the tracks are still wet. Due to its high reliance on flawless performance, Kingda Ka has had a history for breaking down; early incidents averaged about seven times a day. Problems ranged from failures involving the powerful hydraulic launch mechanism to the many brake fins to current weather to even the simple hydraulics which shift a piece of track at both ends of the station (to accommodate the four trains). El Toro On June 11, 2006, Six Flags opened El Toro, a roller coaster at the center of a Spanish-themed section called Plaza Del Carnaval. It stands at 188 feet with a 76 degree drop. Built using prefabricated wooden track pieces, this ride provides massive amounts of "air time," the feeling of ejected out of your seat, especially when riding in seats at the back and the front of the train. El Toro is widely regarded as one of the world's best wooden roller coasters, winning the 4th best wooden roller coaster in 2008, 3rd best in 2009 and Theme Parks Magazine recently voted El Toro as the #2 best wooden coaster in the world. Nitro On April 7, 2001, the park opened Nitro. It stands above the ground and travels at speeds up to . Nitro was the tallest and fastest coaster in New Jersey until the opening of Kingda Ka in 2005, which far surpassed it in both categories. Nitro is widely respected as one of the world's top coasters.The ride continues to be extremely popular due to its novelty in both structure and speed. Nitro's very high reliability, 36-seat trains and simple restraints that can be checked very quickly by the attendants result in wait times that are relatively short for a coaster this popular. The one mile track features no inversions, but includes seven camelbacks, a hammer head turn and a double helix. Each rider is secured by their own individual lap restraint, with four riders to a single row. The coaster originally featured signs which compared points on the lift hill equal in height to other tall structures around the world, such as Niagara Falls and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. These signs have since been removed. Superman: Ultimate Flight On April 17, 2003, Six Flags Great Adventure installed a Flying coaster. The ride consists of overbanked turns and two inversions: a pretzel loop and a 360 degree in-line twist at the very end of the ride. This roller-coaster has seats that swivel 90 degrees, so that the riders are laying on their chests, to simulate a flying position. At first, a custom B&M flyer was proposed for the area near and around the current site of El Toro, but Jackson Township turned down the proposal due to the large amount of tree disposal that would have been required to build the coaster. The result was the coaster being moved to a former parking lot, and becoming a clone of rides located at Six Flags Great America and Six Flags Over Georgia. The Dark Knight On May 15, 2008, Six Flags opened The Dark Knight. It is an indoor ride with a pre-show, a pre-load station, Gotham City subway cars and Batman thematic elements in the ride. It is a Wild Mouse and sits on the former location of Movie Town Water Effect. The height restriction is 42 inches (107 cm) with an adult and 48 inches (122 cm) to ride alone. The ride also gave Six Flags Great Adventure the most enclosed coasters in a Six Flags park. Bizarro When the ride first opened in 1999, as Medusa, the attraction was the first floorless roller coaster in the world. After the 2008 season, Medusa was repainted and marketed as a new coaster, called Bizarro, Superman's enemy from Htrae. The ride has caused a somewhat moderate amount of controversy because of the marketing of this roller coaster as the "new Bizarro coaster" leading the consumer to believe it is a new ride, when the ride actually is the original Medusa, with new paint, new props, and an on board soundtrack. Green Lantern In September 2010, Six Flags announced that in place of the Great American Scream Machine, the park will open Green Lantern, a stand-up roller coaster built by Bolliger & Mabillard, featuring 5 inversions. The ride is being relocated from Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, where it originally operated as Chang. The ride will be themed to the DC Comics Green Lantern superhero, as a way to promote the Green Lantern film, which is slated for release in June 2011. Restaurants * The Best of the West - Ribs, burgers, pulled pork, grilled chicken, salad, beer - Frontier Adventures * Nathan's Famous - The Boardwalk * Johnny Rockets - Main Street Frontier Adventures, Plaza Del Carneval * Papa Johns - The Golden Kingdom, MovieTown and Main Street * Panda Express - Lakefront * Carnegie Deli - corned beef, pastrami, turkey, roast beef sandwiches (white, rye, or wheat), garden salads, pickles, desserts - Main Street * Cold Stone Creamery - Main Street, Movietown, Golden Kingdom * Ben and Jerrys - Fantasy Forest, The Boardwalk and inside The Character Cafe * The Character Cafe - traditional food - Main Street * Johnny Rockets/Papa Johns - Looney Tunes Seaport * Backlot - traditional food - Movietown * Granny's Kitchen - fried chicken - Fantasy Forest * Ted's Cheesesteaks - The Boardwalk * Mama Flora's - Italian food - Fantasy Forest * La Cocina - Mexican food - Plaza Del Carnaval * Nitro Grille - Barbecue, subs - Looney Toons Seaport Park Timeline Golden Ticket Awards Many of Six Flags Great Adventure's most thrilling roller coasters have placed in Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards. Below is a table with coasters at Great Adventure and their highest ranking in the Golden Ticket Awards. Fright Fest During the Halloween season, Six Flags Great Adventure is redecorated with spiderwebs, smoke machines, and other Halloween related decorations. Workers dress up in scary costumes and walk around to frighten guests, as they once did at the Haunted Castle. Fright Fest typically starts at 6 PM, and children twelve and under are given whistles (which are given out for free) which drive away the workers in case they get too scared. Fright Fest has some of the heaviest crowds of the season. Fright Fest gets more and more crowded as it gets closer to Halloween. One of the most popular attractions at Fright Fest every year is the theatrical production of Dead Man's Party, a live dance show with popular music that draws hundreds of viewers for every showing and has attained an almost cult-like local following. The show in the former Right Stuff building has been changed most years to feature a Halloween themed one instead. The first year of the change the original Dino Island was shown. Since then, it has been replaced by Elvira's Superstition which is a motion simulator ride through a haunted roller coaster Elvira has designed. The last time this show operated was November 1, 2009 because the theater was closed and began the process of demolition for a future attraction. See Also * Location Information on Great Adventure (Link) External Links * Six Flags Official Web Site * Six Flags Great Adventure Official Web Site * GreatAdventureHistory.com * Roller Coaster Databse * GoldenTicketAwards.com * Six Flags Great Adventure (Wikipedia) Category:Browse